Mo' Hawks
About the best thing you can say about rookie Denver quarterback Jay Cutler's inaugural start last night is that he wasn't horrible. Mike Shanahan's arch-conservative game plan wouldn't allow it. Save for the Seahawk's two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, Shanahan and Holmgren's third down play calling -- in which both teams ran with long yardage to go, just as often as they passed -- was truly perplexing. Holmgren gets a pass because he snapped out of it and expertly piloted the aforementioned critical drives. (Josh Brown is the Seahawk's MVP. For the season. End of story.) As for Shanahan, when you consider his play-calling, the decision to start Cutler over Jake Plummer in the first place and that wacko Jason Elam end-around that led to nothing more than a shorter field goal attempt (Elam could have made it from the original distance) and a pulled hamstring that might further hamper his team's already dicey playoff chances, and you could make a case that Shanahan had his worst week of coaching during his illustrious career.
Shanahan's logic for starting Cutler is that he gives the Broncos a better chance at winning the Super Bowl. There are two gaping holes in this rationale: (1) if Cutler is similarly mediocre in even one more game, the Broncos aren't going to make it to the postseason and (2) rookie quarterbacks typically suck -- even the ones who end up being really, really good in the long run (see: John Elway, Peyton Manning, et. al.).
As for rookie quarterbacks who don't suck, Vince Young is the truth. His team's not going to make the playoffs and that sidearm delivery can be cringe-inducing, but Young still plays the game like the biggest, calmest kid on the playground that carries half his classmates on his back into the end zone. Moreover, Tennessee beating Indy on a 60-yard field goal yesterday is, for my money, the coolest nail-biter in the league this year, one of those special moments in sport where fans with no personal or financial stake in the game go nuts at the bar nonetheless. For me, that bar was the Mecca, where stellar morning bartender Jonesy was predicting a Bronco win last night. While his prophecy obviously failed to come true, he did make one point worth sharing here: the Seahawks had no business letting Green Bay stay in last Monday's game as long as they did. Green Bay, as evidenced by yeserday's 38-10 drubbing, is horrible. Which must mean the Seahawks aren't all that and a bag of Fritos either. Hence, my post-season prediction: the Hawks won't make it back to the NFC title game this year.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
